Sentiment's Curse
by Icy Doodles
Summary: "It was common for a curse to fly from the tongue. Curses were whispered about to gullible children, exchanged amongst the superstitious, and uttered by the crazed and the furious. It was exceedingly rare, however, for a curse to leave the lips of someone with the power to cast it." This is a slow burn tale of romance between Sesshomaru and Inuyasha.
1. Chapter 1

Words spoken in anguish were words scarcely to be heeded.

When pain touched the weak of mind, fear and groveling were bound to follow. But when pain touched the strong of will, the desire to bite back often prevailed in the form of suicidal retaliation or empty threats. Whether spoken words deemed a person a helpless coward or a courageous fool, in the eyes of the unconcerned, the words were meaningless.

It was common for a curse to fly from the tongue. Curses were whispered about to gullible children, exchanged amongst the superstitious, and uttered by the crazed and the furious. It was exceedingly rare, however, for a curse to leave the lips of someone with the power to cast it.

The air had been thick with mist, veiling the sky and its every star.

Three hulking forest beasts charged through the wood, over the bodies of their fallen brethren. They had been sent for him, he knew. The army of ogres, eyes bulging with injected magics, had intercepted Sesshomaru on the journey back to his lands. His vassal gasped behind him as the last of the beasts closed in on them. With no more effort than he had expelled to fell the other beasts, Sesshomaru raised his sword, Bakusaiga, and the blade began to glow once more, setting their surroundings awash with green light.

The surprise of the attack had worn off, and something burned inside Sesshomaru. His grip tightened and greater power flowed into Bakusaiga. It was far more power than he would need to kill this enemy. It was all the power he would need to obliterate it.

Sesshomaru swung the blade only once, releasing a surge of youki that ripped through the ground. Even barrelling forward with great momentum, the hulking bodies four times Sesshomaru's size disintegrated on the spot without a moment to cry out, and a long stretch of the forest went with them.

Gazing upon the wreckage for no longer than the time it took for him to sheathe Bakusaiga, Sesshomaru turned to scan the area for any other creature who dared challenge him.

Jaken was dazedly lifting himself off the ground with his staff, having been blown over by the force of his lord's last attack.

The grinding and toppling of stone nearby was the only warning before a sharp wailing pierced through the night's near-silence. Tensed for another attack, Sesshomaru's head snapped to the side, his gaze landing upon the damage that had occurred to the left of the scar in the earth created by Bakusaiga. A rockslide had cluttered the path between two steep, looming mountains that would lead him closer to his homelands. Was it the aim of even the gods to delay him?

Sesshomaru glided towards the pile of fallen rock. There, he discovered the source of the piercing sound.

A young female human knelt in the mud beside one of the larger felled boulders and her wailing continued. Her hands had shoved and beat at the solid stone until they bled, her scent mixing with the scent of a man whose lower half had been completely crushed beneath the boulder. It was a futile attempt.

The woman's wild eyes did not miss Sesshomaru's approach. It was unclear whether or not what he was had yet dawned on her. Perhaps she was too desperate to care.

Still on her knees, she begged. She cried for his help. When he paid her no heed, his attention on the boulders scattered beyond them, she stood on unsteady legs.

"You _can't_ , you did this!" the woman screamed.

Sesshomaru continued to walk.

He had known there would be no help for the man trapped beneath stone. Not that Sesshomaru would have lent his assistance otherwise. To the uninvolved, the man was already dead. Removing the boulder from the mangled lower half of his body would only have caused the human to bleed to death faster. No reward would have been given for further dirtying his hands, and the woman would likely have wailed harder at the sight of the damage.

She hurled mud in Sesshomaru's direction, tempting him to remove her head from her shoulders. Did she not realize she would have died as well without his power? She would have been torn limb from limb. Despite her blatant disrespect, Sesshomaru had elected to lengthen the distance between himself and the insignificant, dirty shape in the path.

"There is _nothing_ inside of you," the distant shape spat as though she possessed the ability to see beyond his flesh.

Nothing the woman had said or done would have made her worth his time while the mountains and forest of his homelands awaited him and the sweat of battle still clung to his skin. Sesshomaru was no stranger to the sight of suffering. A suffering human was as commonplace as a broken tree branch. The powerless would always suffer, and no amount of good deeds would change that.

From behind him, the woman's shrill words had carried on the wind…

 _Become the monster that crawls beneath your skin._

 _Weak and grotesque, you will rot within your cage._

 _Be free in death, though your own will cannot end you._

 _Be free in life when new love bestirs your black, shriveled heart,_

 _And when fate strikes that creature down._

Even now, in the wake of the following morning, the words echoed in Sesshomaru's mind as though a part of the spell had been to forever burn them into his memory. Sesshomaru had felt nothing at the time the words had been spoken. And now, as his hands shook and as he breathed heavily after merely ascending a hill, he wanted nothing more than to tear out the witch's throat. But it was too late. All of it.

Too late for vengeance. Too late for regret. Too late to run.

His vassal had vanished. Erased from existence in the blink of an eye, or scurrying through the forest for his life.

Where he stood now, Sesshomaru realized, was as far as he was able to go in this specific direction. Somehow, he did not know where this was. Unseen, a magical force began to solidify the air in front of him. Another step forward and he would be thrown back as he was the first time he tried to push his way through. _You will rot within your cage_ , the woman had said.

 _Weak and grotesque…_

Seething, Sesshomaru raised the trembling hands that could not have belonged to him but did. He stared, reaffirming the permanence of it all. The clawed fingers were unnaturally long and thin. The flesh, white as milk, was gnarled like the bark of an old tree with many layers of scar tissue. Not just his hands, but his arms as well, and presumably his entire body was afflicted. The demonic markings of his noble birth were gone. Wicked, unnatural veins stretched across his skin as a dark indigo, tattered webbing.

Sesshomaru peered down into one of many forest pools. The flesh of his face was twisted and wrong, as though someone had long ago attempted to erase his identity by flaying and searing it. All hair was completely gone from his swollen, knobby brow, and the length growing from his head was black and unevenly ragged. His mouth was a grisly mess of crowded, pointed teeth, and one ear looked as though something had taken a bite out of the shell. The only recognizable parts of his face were his eyes. Golden eyes, narrowed in denial of this nightmare.

No longer was he dressed as a lord, or even as a warrior. His armor, his pelt, Bakusaiga, and Tenseiga were gone. The loss of the blades' comforting weight at his side made him feel naked and devoid of a limb. All that covered him now was a plain gray robe of coarse fabric. A peasant's garb.

He opened the robe and let it fall to the ground, exposing all he had become. What he saw reflected in the water truly was a monster. And he no longer had the inner power to match it.

If Rin could have seen him now, it was doubtless she would have fled from him in terror, Sesshomaru realized numbly. If Rin saw him and somehow knew who he was, she would weep. A child would weep for him.

Not that it mattered anymore. He had wandered from the path back to his lands. No one knew he was here. Even if Jaken were still alive, Sesshomaru would not be found. No soul alive would recognize him.

How long would his absence be questioned? How long would he waste away? No one could free him from this invisible prison.

No one would try.


	2. Chapter 2

Inuyasha found himself struck with a pang of undesired nostalgia as he made the upward trek toward a mountain peak. Bribed by food and a nice place to stay the night in the nearby village, Inuyasha had agreed to slay the terror that lurked somewhere in the heights that overlooked the village. After he had rescued one of their idiot little boys from a hungry tengu, the villagers had practically begged him to help them. This time, Inuyasha had been lucky enough to take down a real man-eating monster in plain sight before the villagers had the chance to shove that same title right up his ass. With no humans following him around to vouch for him, Inuyasha had to be prepared for anything.

The journey was like old times. Except for the being entirely alone part. To make his way on his own for a while had been no one's choice but his own, he had to remind himself sometimes. But, the thing is, Inuyasha had never actually specified how long his journey of solitude would last. He tried not to think about it, but it had lasted longer than he had meant for it to. And he had no one but himself to tell him he was an asshole for leaving everything behind for so long. He was also pretty great at telling himself he was not ready to go back. And even better at ignoring that fact that he did not know _how_ to go back.

Ten years had passed since Kagome had returned to her own time. Naraku had been defeated, the Shikon no Tama had been destroyed, and Kagome had needed to make a choice. And well, she chose. Kagome had chosen her world over a life with him. Inuyasha hadn't understood why Kagome had left him. She loved him with all her heart, she had said. As her window to choose between worlds was fading, that was what she said, before telling him and all of their friends that she had to go. She had wrapped her arms around him and kissed him once. And before they all knew it, she was gone. Forever.

Inuyasha had not understood. If Kagome had loved him, if she had loved them all, why had she not chosen to be with him? His grief had made it nearly impossible to look beyond the single reality that she had loved him.

Kagome was full of love, even for things that did not exactly deserve her love, though it was beyond Inuyasha how she managed that. After ages of sitting by that old accursed well, even when he knew she would never again come through it, he realized he had been a complete idiot. Kagome's life wasn't like his. Unlike him, Kagome had a real family. A family who loved her, who needed her. Inuyasha would have given his _sword hand_ to have his own family. And Inuyasha had expected Kagome to—to what? Leave her family and everything she knew to live in a world that was violent and cruel because, for some reason, she had it in her to love him back?

Inuyasha would have left. In that second before she disappeared, he would have left his world to be with her even though her world had no place for him in it. In her world, he wouldn't even be a hanyou. At least, not to anyone outside Kagome's home. He would have left his world because he thought he had nothing to lose. And he was an idiot. Because he had everything to lose, except her, and Kagome knew that. Inuyasha simply wasn't alone anymore, like he had been the day Kagome found him and destroyed the sacred arrow pinning him to that godforsaken tree. Inuyasha had people who accepted him and depended on him.

So naturally, Inuyasha had decided to leave them anyway. Two years after Kagome left, Inuyasha said his goodbyes to Sango, Miroku, and Shippou. He had no intention of being away forever, he just needed to figure some things out. And it wasn't as if he didn't secretly sneak around and keep tabs on the village from time to time to make sure no one was in mortal danger, though he would never admit to doing that ever. He just needed to figure out who he was and what he was doing without the influence of stupid Sacred Jewels, insane evil, and nosy, obnoxiously concerned friends. He had told them as much. Might have yelled it a little bit. And they told him they understood, 'cause of course they did, they wanted him to do what was best for him. They were so damned _supportive_. But Inuyasha knew they hadn't expected him to stay away for eight years. He also just...didn't want them to see him again until he was better. And he wasn't better. He couldn't be. Shit, he was an asshole.

Beating the piss out of rowdy youkai seemed to help a little.

At first, that was all Inuyasha did. He lived in the woods alone and he welcomed the challenge of any youkai. Living in the woods now was not like it was in his younger years when all he had were his claws and teeth to fight with, always on the defense. He was stronger now, older, with Tetsusaiga at his side. He was no one's prey.

Inuyasha could take care of himself better than ever before, but he hadn't been able to stay away from the humans. Humans just...always managed to get themselves into so much shit. And it wasn't alltheir fault. Most villages were not equipped to handle youkai attacks. But if more of the humans would just focus on learning how to _fight_ youkai rather than wasting their energies praying to the gods to save them, then maybe Inuyasha would not be all over the countryside constantly being their only saving grace who gave a damn. It just wasn't in him to ignore them anymore.

Inuyasha realized he was doing exactly what he used to do with his friends. He wasn't a _complete_ moron. But he was doing it on his own, and he did not need anyone's help. Hewas choosing to live this life. No beads encircled his neck any longer.

Inuyasha was content to climb up this mountain to find a damn reclusive youkai or whatever it was that the humans were too afraid to take out themselves.

He did not have to go far into the creature's supposed domain before he concluded that there was something undeniably wrong with the place. He shuddered, suddenly feeling as though he had just passed through a giant spider's web. His hand shot up to wipe at his face, but there was nothing to wipe away. Everything had grown far too quiet. And his skin felt...wrong somehow. Off to a great start, then.

Inuyasha wandered, not entirely sure what he was looking for. He had been assured he would know the creature when he saw it. So far, there was nothing but rocks and trees. A few bushes. Higher rocks and higher trees.

When Inuyasha was about to start shouting, 'Heeeeere, big scary sonofabitch,' his search was met with a promising sight. Disguised from a distant view by tall, full pines was a sizeable mountain cave.

"Real original," muttered Inuyasha as he leapt up onto a rocky ledge to peer into the cave's gaping mouth. He leaned forward towards the dark interior, ears twitching, but no sound came from within. As it was still light outside, it was likely that whatever lived here was sleeping inside. Only one way to find out.

Inuyasha waltzed inside and was soon forced to veer to the right and then curve to the left down a narrow pathway. This passage already ruled out the youkai being much larger than him, if it even lived there. Either that or the thing could change its shape.

The depth of the cave was a surprise. And so was the more spacious cave belly when he finally reached it, dimly lit as it was by a low fire. Frowning, Inuyasha glanced around the clearly lived-in cave. Whoever did live here was almost certainly not home.

Assuming this place really did belong to the creature Inuyasha had been sent up there to find, it was a lot less menacing than he would have expected. Inuyasha had seen his fair share of lairs, and this one was just sad. No presentation or clear pride in being the evilest in the land. No innards smeared and ground into the rock wall. Not even a single skeleton. The place even smelled...not terrible.

The fire burned in the center of the space, partially lighting the otherwise completely dark cave. A bed of grass topped with furs was the nearest thing to the fire, and it was not an especially large bed. Against the wall were two small, neatly stacked piles of wood, the two piles serving to separate sizeable logs from sticks and bark. Seriously, organized wood. Shoved towards the back were various shabby-looking baskets of different sizes. Inuyasha crept closer to peer at some of their contents. A couple of them contained herds, some of which Inuyasha recognized as medicinal. A larger basket contained stone daggers, and it sat beside three wooden spears leaned against the wall. One basket contained dried meats, and others contained bone, flint, and wooden arrow heads. A final basket shoved furthest to the back contained only one thing: folded gray fabric. Not fur, but woven fabric. If Inuyasha's sense of smell was not confirming the demonic nature of the cave's owner, he would say he had just hunted down a human.

A stream of water trickling down through the rocks on the opposite wall of the cave brought his attention to a small pool of water on the floor. Drawn by the sweet temptation of a cool drink, Inuyasha took a couple of steps forward until something crunched beneath him, and his foot shot up, flailing a little and flinging about pieces of the shit that clung to the bottom of his foot. When he looked down at the culprits, he was met with the sinister sight of...a pile of nuts and seeds. What the hell? Inuyasha took it upon himself to kick the pile so more nuts and seeds went flying in different directions. Everything else in there was weirdly organized, and then there was just this pile of nuts on the floor?

A series of frantic squeaks were Inuyasha's only warning before something with tiny teeth and claws launched itself into his back.

"Nngeh, _fuck_!" Inuyasha yelled, whirling around and swiping at the air. Realizing quickly that the thing was _not_ going to let go, he reached behind himself and grabbed the furry, squirming thing, dislodging it from his haori and hair. Huffing and squeezing hard, Inuyasha held the thing out in front of him long enough to peer into crazed little rodent eyes, and then the bastard clamped its teeth down onto the meat of his hand. Cursing bloody murder onto it and its entire family, Inuyasha flung the squirrel off before chasing it back towards the opening of the cave. "What the hell did I ever do to _you_?" Stopping then, Inuyasha remembered the pile of nuts and seeds he had just kicked everywhere. It was he who had started a fight with a squirrel. A squirrel. What kind of goddamn squirrel had the balls to attack a man for disturbing its nuts anyway? "Whatever, you—acorn crammer!" And now he was insulting a squirrel that had already run away. Insulting it badly.

Obviously the squirrel came here often if it had its own pile of nuts. Greedy little hoarding bastard. Inuyasha rubbed his sore, now bleeding hand. This day was steadily removing Inuyasha's ability to have rational thoughts and raising his desire to go out and smash trees until he inevitably killed something bad. Scowling, Inuyasha resolved to stick around. If the youkai lived here, it would come back and save Inuyasha the time of scenting the mountainside for it. If the squirrel was somehow the youkai in disguise, Inuyasha was going to lose his shit.

* * *

Both of Sesshomaru's arms were full of fallen branches and thin logs, which he held to his chest as he neared his dismal shelter. Very few beasts challenged him for the use of the cave; he was meant to remain alive in here, after all. So here he was, returning once again to its depths. His lower back complained a little with the time he had spent carrying the load, but it was hardly more than an annoyance. He had elected to bring as much wood with him as he could carry so he would not be forced to go out again and be drenched by the approaching rain.

At the mossy mouth of his cave a strange scent struck Sesshomaru, prickling his spine. The scent was familiar, but Sesshomaru's dulled senses did not allow him to place it. Hackles risen, Sesshomaru slowly and silently lowered his armload and crept into the darkness. He reached behind himself and pulled free the ties securing his bow to the deer hide quiver strapped to his back. When he could see the dim glow of his fire licking the tunnel walls, he slipped an arrow from his quiver and nocked it, drawing in a steady breath. No sound betrayed the presence of an intruder. It was possible the intruder had already left. If not...it lay in wait for him.

Sesshomaru darted into the spacious depths of his cave, immediately detecting movement. He raised his nocked arrow to point between the eyes of the standing figure who had dared to invade his home, his own eyes readjusting to the darkness untouched by firelight. The face he saw then, fierce and flashing gold, shocked him into stillness. And in that moment of pause, a fist connected with his jaw, throwing him backwards and into the wall, his bow and arrow clattering to the floor with him.

Stars swam in Sesshomaru's vision and his mouth tasted of blood. He could do little more than collect himself and stare disbelievingly as the last person he would have expected to see stepped further into the light and drew his sword.

 _Inuyasha._

An odd sense of relief threatened to bloom in his chest at the sight of a familiar face, the only evidence of his former existence he had seen in years, but it was quickly extinguished by the stark reality of the situation. For the first time in the presence of the hanyou, Sesshomaru was in an infuriatingly vulnerable state. And he was not Inuyasha's ally. Perhaps they were not the enemies they once were, he mused distantly, but there was no telling what Inuyasha would do.

What truly kept Sesshomaru silent was the knowledge that Inuyasha would not be able to free him. Not in the way that would leave Sesshomaru alive. He refused to allow the hanyou to look upon him and know what he was, _who_ he was, when Inuyasha would be able to do nothing about it.

"Get up," commanded the hanyou with Tetsusaiga outstretched. "Even if you are a killer, I can't fight you if you don't fight back."

A humorless smile tugged at Sesshomaru's pale lips, revealing multiple long fangs. Although Inuyasha had absolutely no idea who he was, the remaining shreds of his pride forced him to stand. Though he did not advance as Inuyasha wanted him to.

"They sent you to dispose of me," answered Sesshomaru in a detached, unseeing way. This was not a question. Inuyasha was to be his executioner. Who better than his half-breed, bastard brother? There was no other being alive with more of a claim on his life.

"They did." The tip of Inuyasha's sword neared Sesshomaru's throat. "Said you were a danger to the children. Said you already ate one of 'em."

"Is that what they said?"

"You're not denying it."

"And would you believe me if I did? _Mighty_ demon slayer?"

Inuyasha must have noticed he was being mocked because the edge of Tetsusaiga was suddenly drawing blood across his throat. Sesshomaru only tipped his head up, daring him. The pain of a fresh wound was strangely unfamiliar of late. Ever since he had been bespelled, his blood was something only an accident or another being could draw. Though he'd tried, he could not take his own life. Nor could he even administer the smallest of cuts if he intended to do so. And yet, with every scarce, idiot creature that wandered into his prison with the intent to kill, in the end, he had been unable to keep from fighting back. Perhaps, this time, he would be able to give in. And let the nightmare be finished.

" _Well_?" demanded Sesshomaru when all Inuyasha did was intimidate him with pressure from the blade and with a strange, intense stare. This silence and lack of bloody pummeling was very uncharacteristic of the hanyou.

"Who are you?"

Sesshomaru blinked and furrowed his naked, clammy brow. "I have no reason to reveal my identity to you."

"I think you being on the wrong end of my sword gives you a pretty damn good reason," growled Inuyasha. The hanyou's patience was wearing thin. That was more like it. "Something's felt off ever since I got here. And I'm willing to bet it's got something to do with you. There's dark energy that feels like it's coming from the ground itself. And here you are, directly in the middle of it. Are you causing it? Is it dangerous to the people down there? Tell me. Now!"

"What you are… _experiencing_ ," answered Sesshomaru with narrowed eyes and a tight jaw, "the unease, the constant suspicion that something is amiss, is what I experience each day. This wretched speck of land is cursed. I do not control it." Inuyasha let up on the pressure of the blade. One could practically see the wheels in Inuyasha's head smoking as he tried to read whether or not Sesshomaru was telling him the truth, the wretched fool. It was a wonder his tendency to delay the slaying of his enemies had not yet been the death of him.

"Why stay here, then?" asked Inuyasha with the twitch of an ear. "If it's so damned horrible." Sesshomaru could not understand why Inuyasha was continuing to press him. Did the hanyou not believe him to be a fearsome devourer of children? "There's a huge village full of humans just down the mountain. And when something looks the way you do…" Sesshomaru closed his eyes and braced himself for what his brother would say about the monstrosity before him. "Living close to humans will give every single one of them a reason to make up stories if it'll somehow make you disappear."

Sesshomaru's eyes snapped open and regarded Inuyasha with genuine surprise.

Looking entirely smug, Inuyasha withdrew and sheathed his sword before crossing his arms over his chest. "It was almost entertaining," continued Inuyasha, "listening to them go on and on about how evil a thing you are. And then it just got annoying. Bad liars talk too much and try way too hard when they want you to believe them. But soon, even bad liars get lots of idiots around them believing their tales. Funny how that always seems to happen," he said with little real humor in his voice.

With his head slightly cocked, Sesshomaru wondered just how much Inuyasha had grown up in the years he had lived under this curse. Inuyasha had, perhaps, matured. If only a little. "You believe I do not eat children, then."

"I don't remember saying that. All I'm saying is…I know what it's like for everyone to want you dead before they even know you."

Sesshomaru frowned at that before moving away from the wall he had previously been shoved into. Inuyasha's words struck him somehow and he did not like it. "You have wasted your time here, it seems. Either kill me or get out."

"I asked you why you're here."

"And I believe my business is my own."

Inuyasha sighed loudly and scratched around a flicking ear. "I really would get out of here if I were you. It'll be better for everyone." The hanyou took a few slow steps backwards before reaching the opening of the tunnel that would lead him outside. "I might just kill you if I see you around again. You might not have attacked _this_ village. But there's still something about you that I really don't like."

And as quickly as Inuyasha had come to shatter his quiet, wretched existence, the hanyou disappeared into the shadows.

With hesitant fingertips, Sesshomaru brushed his stinging throat. They came away slick with the blood his brother had drawn. He was entirely numb as his eyes took in the contrast between his gnarled, ashy skin and the dark red fluid.

Inuyasha would not return to this place. The solitude would stretch on. Once, Sesshomaru would have found solace and relief in solitude. That simple mentality seemed a lifetime ago already.

Desperately, Sesshomaru tried not to despair. Inuyasha hadn't even possessed the decency to cut out his heart.

* * *

Eager to be rid of the ominous mountain, Inuyasha trudged back down towards the village, fully preparing to spin himself a fantastic tale of triumph in order to get that hot meal and bed he had been promised upon the completion of his task.

The beast had not been destroyed, but it had not seemed to express any interest whatsoever in the village below. Judging by the lack of evidence and any scent, humans had been nowhere near that area for quite some time. Most likely, the village was safe from, at the very least, this one measly threat out of a world full of dangers.

Inuyasha wondered if the strange youkai would heed his words and leave this place. Oddly, though it was clearly lacking in brute strength, the creature did not express fear in the face of death. If it stayed where it was, something was bound to venture up there and kill it. But that was not Inuyasha's problem. He had already spared the youkai. And he was no damn saint.

Inuyasha could feel himself moving away from the strange power that gripped the mountain, drawing closer to clean air and to where the daylight seemed almost brighter. He leapt, clearing a fallen tree.

Before his feet could reconnect with the ground, Inuyasha's vision blackened, his only warning before something wrenched his body backwards and into a boulder, cracking the stone. Slumping to the ground, Inuyasha choked, stunned as the power of the throw had sucked the wind from his lungs.

What. The ever-loving fuck.

* * *

AN:

Hello my darlings! It is I, Icy Doodles. I love you all, thank you for your interest in my new story. I hope this chapter has answered a few of your questions. Some things will be rather vague for a while, but please tell me if anything is super confusing. I love to hear your thoughts. Thank you!


	3. Chapter 3

While seated on the floor with his feet inches from the coals, the flame's orange glow failed to fully penetrate the chill of Sesshomaru's skin. The chill was a part of his burden. Though, even in the dead of winter, the chill he felt had not been enough to kill him. Perhaps it was because he had wished for the cold to take him. Sesshomaru had endured a great many cold nights huddled atop snow-covered ground before he surrendered to the desperate need for heat. To be free of the clutches of whole body suffering, this new form required far more heat than his old form ever had.

 _My old form_ , he mused.

For a long time, he had considered his old form to be his true self beneath what he had become. For years, he'd held fast to that belief. But somewhere amidst that delusion he'd found reality once more.

The dog prince of the Western Lands was dead. That was the truth. A stain on his own bloodline, Sesshomaru was forevermore his vile, cursed self.

The thunderous rain drenching and cooling the ground could easily have taken the blame for his current lack of comfort drawn from the fire, but he could feel the strength of the air's dark magic thickening, curling around him in a taunting embrace. The mountain was laughing. It knew of his abrupt collision with an unwelcomed piece of his old existence.

With a feral growl, Sesshomaru stood, drew his flint dagger, and repeatedly slashed the wall, gnashing his teeth together as his strikes did nothing more than to chip away at his painstaking work and create sparks that died in the air.

He had accepted this existence. After he had allowed the damning curse words to fill his head, grasping at any scrap of meaning that could redeem him until the wind whispered them in his ears. After his tensed, burning muscles gave out on a mountain ledge with his body's refusal to simply plummet, Sesshomaru had accepted the impossibility of escape.

And now…everything inside of him clawed at the iron walls of acceptance, forcing him to reach out towards what he once was. In a rush of memory and nausea, Sesshomaru was reminded that he no longer had a purpose in this world. With this collapse of his ever present will, he envisioned the endless stretch of time he would face with that very same aimless destiny.

Wildly, Sesshomaru spun and flung the dagger into the opposite wall.

He could not return to that maddening place in his mind. Not because of that thorn, that brash fool, that poor excuse for—

"You've got a real death wish, you bastard!"

Sesshomaru stiffened, his heart leaping into his throat. A figure burst out of the dark tunnel, feet slapping against stone, and barreled into the belly of his den.

 _Inuyasha._ Inuyasha had returned. Sesshomaru was so surprised to see him, he hardly noticed that the hanyou was completely drenched and dripping.

There was this immediate feeling of…what was it, relief? It could not, _should_ not have been. But it was. Disheveled and in this moment of unguarded stillness, Sesshomaru almost forgot to wonder at the reasoning behind Inuyasha's sudden return. That is, until Inuyasha was taking a fistful of the ragged skins that cloaked his body, dangling him above the ground. Livid, Sesshomaru dug his claws into Inuyasha's wrist, only drawing a snarl from the hanyou as he shook Sesshomaru jarringly. Though despite his fury at his current position, Sesshomaru was quite nearly, madly amused. He knew firsthand of the countless times Inuyasha had been subject to this same treatment. The lack of crushing, poisonous claws around his own throat was the only difference in this transfer of roles.

"Has your mind been changed?" asked Sesshomaru coolly.

Inuyasha bared his fangs, saturated lengths of hair plastered across his face. "Let me the _fuck_ out of here," the hanyou growled low in his throat. "I want out _now_. I don't know what you've done but you're going to start losing limbs if you don't undo it!"

Sesshomaru's fury ebbed and morphed into confusion. His lip curled, pulling back over multiple uneven fangs. "You speak nonsense, mongrel. What is it you accuse me of?"

"Don't play innocent, youkai!" Inuyasha grasped Sesshomaru's wrist with his other hand and bent it backwards, all but breaking it. Sesshomaru hissed wildly, feeling the pain of a tactic that never would have fazed him during his former encounters with his worthless half-brother. Inuyasha would never have been able to lay a single filthy claw on him.

"I tried to leave but I couldn't! Something kept tossing me back onto this Hell rock!"

Sesshomaru's eyes widened minutely. "A barrier." It was not possible… Was it?

"What do you know of it?" asked Inuyasha sharply followed by another hard jerk of the suspended youkai.

Jaw clenched, lip sliding over too many pointed teeth, Sesshomaru glared darkly. "Until you release me, I will reveal nothing more."

With an indignant huff, Inuyasha let go of his tattered hides and allowed Sesshomaru to fall heavily to the ground. "Okay, you're down, now talk," ordered Inuyasha impatiently.

Seething and riddled to the brim with something akin to shame, Sesshomaru felt as though a vein would burst in his temple as he lifted himself from the floor with as much eminence as he could muster. Cold golden eyes locked with Inuyasha's and he was nearly taken aback. The look in Inuyasha's eyes was utterly foreign to him. There was no regard, respect, or caution in that gaze. It was as though Sesshomaru was entirely beneath him, a creature unworthy of his energy.

Perhaps Inuyasha was right to view him this way. For this was surely the same look Inuyasha had always received, from countless eyes. This was surely the same look Sesshomaru himself had always worn. If Inuyasha did not believe himself to be better than even the lowest of youkai, then, certainly he would never have overcome the mark of worthlessness.

"The fault is not mine, belligerent fool." Sesshomaru adjusted his deerskin coverings.

"Whose is it, then?"

"As I said before, this land is cursed. I am trapped here, prevented from going beyond the enchantment. The spell of a sorceress."

Inuyasha crossed his arms. "Why did a sorceress trap you?"

Sesshomaru's pale lip curled, his mouth tasting of acid. "My only crime was the defense of what is mine." What _was_ his and never would be again, he reminded himself silently.

Judging by the ever prominent scowl, Inuyasha did not appear to accept his answer, but he did not press the matter either. "Why am _I_ trapped?"

"…I do not know," Sesshomaru admitted slowly. The spell was only meant to imprison Sesshomaru. But here they were, sentenced to the same fate. Almost the same fate. Inuyasha was still himself.

Sesshomaru knew he had nearly wished for this, for someone to remain. For the presence of another who might help him to forget the cruelty of the mountain, forget himself. But this was Inuyasha. This was his own past. This was just another kind of torment.

"Damn it all!" Inuyasha swore, picking up a loose stone and hurling it into the fire with an explosion of sparks that narrowly missed igniting Sesshomaru's bedding. "You expect me to believe that this just—just _happened_ and you have nothing to do with it?"

Impossible visions of snatching Inuyasha up into his enormous jaws and shaking him until he lost consciousness flooded Sesshomaru's mind. His patience for the hanyou's demands and accusations was wearing thin.

"What you happen to believe is no concern of mine," said Sesshomaru evenly. "What could I possibly want with you? You are worth nothing to me."

The hanyou snorted loudly. "That's obvious. It's a grudge against me I'm more concerned about. Believe it or not, I'm not too popular when it comes to youkai. Actually," he laughed humorlessly," I'm not too popular with pretty much everyone. So what'd I do? I kill your brother or something?"

The irony of the final question was not lost on Sesshomaru. Under different circumstances, if the both of them were not facing lifetimes encaged together, he might have been tempted to be amused. To find humor in what his brother did not know. If only Inuyasha realized it, that Sesshomaru was speaking to his brother this very moment. Inuyasha would be all the more hateful, certainly. There would be no chance of Inuyasha believing Sesshomaru's lack of control over his imprisonment. There would be no more fear, no more respect from the hanyou when faced with his elder brother's name. And the humiliation would be more than Sesshomaru was willing to bear.

Inuyasha would never find out.

"I speak the truth, mongrel. I have not the power to enact such a curse."

Inuyasha's color appeared to be draining. "Well you seem to be the expert here. What do we do? All curses can be broken, right?" Inuyasha paced as his mind churned with ways in which he might conquer this obstacle as he conquered all obstacles. The same obstacle that had forced Sesshomaru to roam this mountain for years.

"If I get rid of the barrier, you can be free too," Inuyasha said after a moment, his frown prominent. "If you really are stuck here. So you should tell me everything you know."

If only the curse were that simple. Inuyasha had strength, but he would be dueling magic.

"There is no escape." Sesshomaru knew not whether those words were spoken purely to appease Inuyasha or if he had in fact needed that reminder himself. He suspected he would be reminding himself of this more often than ever now.

"Yeah, we'll see about that." With all the stubbornness of their father, Inuyasha stalked out of the cave.

* * *

Seven days echoed with the sounds of explosive escape attempts. They would cease well into the night but begin again with the rise of the sun. Inuyasha would soon learn that Tetsusaiga could not solve every one of his problems.

Inuyasha was more fortunate than he realized. He still had his fire rat garb, their father's fang, his identity… There were probably those who missed him as well, those who could recognize him. His human comrades, or a lover, perhaps. Despite his foul mouth and idiocy, a number of humans had grown to accept him. Such acceptance did not come without cost, of course. Which was why, after all these years, it was a tamed hanyou who had come to finally destroy the fearsome youkai of the mountain. The humans would not risk their own again. Whatever the nature of Inuyasha's connection to the humans, there was a good chance at least one of them would search for the missing hanyou.

There was more of a hope for Inuyasha than there ever had been for Sesshomaru.

If Inuyasha ever learned the true nature of the curse, Inuyasha would strike him down in order to be free of eternal imprisonment, as would anyone. The hanyou would agonize over it for a moment, but in the end it would be easy. Forever was a long time.

By the end of the seventh day, Sesshomaru had resolved to oversee what damage had been done, if only to personally put an end to the constant, pointless racket. It would hardly be in Sesshomaru's best interest if the hanyou were to drop dead from overexertion so soon.

With displeasure etched into his every muscle, Sesshomaru made the journey towards the bottom of the mountain, in the direction of the most recent attacks on the barrier. As he walked, golden eyes scanned the sky above the trees. Not even a tremor disturbed the surface of their prison.

" _Kongousouha_!"

A shock of red amongst lush green commanded attention as wholly as the roar of attack. Sesshomaru watched as Inuyasha swung Tetsusaiga with all his might, firing a barrage of diamond shrapnel. The diamonds caught in the air for a split second before they exploded backwards in all directions, forcing Inuyasha to block any shards that happened to fly his way. Though, judging by the coppery scent in the air, Inuyasha had not been able to block all of the ricochets from the thousands of times he had likely attempted this. As far as Sesshomaru could see along the base of the barrier surrounding the mountain, the ground was cratered and the trees were splintered. Apparently, the hanyou had been searching the perimeter for weaknesses.

" _KONGOUSOUHA_!"

Inuyasha's voice was hoarse and his body shook with exhaustion as he attacked the barrier once more. This time, Sesshomaru was forced to dodge a shard that strayed in his direction. Alerted to Sesshomaru's presence, Inuyasha whipped around, extending Tetsusaiga defensively.

"Wha'da you want?" spat Inuyasha.

"You will find no weakness." Sesshomaru moved to the edge of the still-standing forest.

Inuyasha sighed loudly and shifted out of his defensive mode, clearly favoring his right leg. "You came all the way down here to tell me that?

"The constant cacophony of your pointless destruction is maddening."

" _Apologies_ , Highness," returned Inuyasha with a sarcastic bow of his head. "And here I thought you were just trying to save me some trouble."

Sesshomaru narrowed his eyes, unappreciative of Inuyasha's tone. "Stop this. You will only worsen your existence here."

"Give up? Like you obviously have?" Inuyasha stared pointedly at Sesshomaru, the look in his eyes clearly conveying that he considered Sesshomaru's existence to be the lowest he could possibly fall. "No thanks."

"You will be eaten alive by this mountain," assured Sesshomaru darkly. Though far beneath the surface, Sesshomaru knew he could not fault Inuyasha's blatant opinion of the degree to which he had fallen. This life was meant to be a fate worse than death. As it was for him, so would it be for Inuyasha.

Inuyasha licked his chapped lips and spat on the ground. "I don't give a fuck what this place does to me. There's some people I've got to get back to. And damned if I'm gonna be stuck in this cage with nothing but a creepy, ugly-ass youkai for company."

A small, but wicked smile allowed multiple fangs to protrude over Sesshomaru's bottom lip.

"Oh, you will be," promised Sesshomaru from the shadows. "Only, you shall be utterly alone." Sesshomaru turned his back to the dirtied, ragged hanyou.

As swiftly as he'd arrived to quiet the racket, Sesshomaru strode back the way he came, his arms swinging stiffly at his sides as he climbed. The exertion of his pace coupled with the nerve of that boisterous mongrel had set his skin ablaze. His mind fumed with expletives and images of Inuyasha rendered unconscious by a felled tree or anything that would force his wretched face into the dirt. Why on this bloody _earth_ did it have to be Inuyasha? Clearly, some higher power had deemed Sesshomaru deserving of a fresh dose of torment.

By slow degrees, and without particular cause, Sesshomaru began to cool and his steps slowed to his normal pace. His mind wandered back to the determination he had seen in Inuyasha's eyes. Inuyasha was willing to do whatever was necessary to escape.

Sesshomaru had been the same way, once. The only difference had been Sesshomaru's lack of anyone else but himself to drive him. Despite Sesshomaru's efforts to dissuade him, his presence seemed only to cause the hanyou's willpower to burn hotter. He should have know Inuyasha would never falter in the face of impossibility. Even with a poison soaked hand through his gut, Inuyasha would always fight.

Sesshomaru had fought for himself and his own freedom with the deepest and most crippling desperation. Never before had something seemed an impossibility to him. Not the possession of Tetsusaiga, nor the defeat of Naraku. Even in the face of failure, he always found greater strength. He learned to defy death and he created a sword stronger than those of his father from his own body. So he fought, because he had never truly known defeat.

For longer than he had etched each passing day into stone, he had been a walking corpse of shattered bones, broken claws, and open, raw flesh seared by the wrath of the invisible walls.

The barrier could never kill him. It was the simplest, sometimes the only way to injure himself. To feel something. He was not allowed to die from his own efforts, so his injuries always healed within a day. On occasion, the barrier would bend slightly to his bodily attacks. This cruel false hope was the reason he lasted as long as he had. But false hope was all it ever had been.

Inuyasha was not under the whole of the curse; he was only caught within the prison. He could kill himself. Sesshomaru wondered if his brother would ever go that far. Or if living within these walls would indeed shatter his spirit forever and force him into a quiet, still existence.

Either way, Inuyasha would lose himself.

As Sesshomaru envisioned the hanyou's inevitable ruin, he could not help but wonder if this was pity. Few people had ever managed to injure him, to spill Sesshomaru's blood, but Inuyasha had. On multiple accounts. Inuyasha was an infuriating, uncouth half-breed. Troublesome from the moment of his birth.

And Sesshomaru would never have wished this fate upon him. No—that was a lie. In the past, he would have wished it in a heartbeat. But after living it himself…

Knowing what was in store for Inuyasha gave him no pleasure. It was not as though Sesshomaru would be able to trade places with the hanyou and be free, even if he wished it.

Eventually, Inuyasha would realize it. The hopeless truth. That much was certain. It was impossible to predict, however, what one might do with such knowledge.

Breathing deeply, Sesshomaru slowed to a halt, closing his eyes to the chilled air.

If Inuyasha chose to take the cowardly way out of this—the way Sesshomaru himself had once chosen—Sesshomaru wondered if he might let him. The sooner Inuyasha was gone from his sight, the sooner he could dismiss this encounter as nothing but a reminiscent dream of a youkai lord who was once proud to speak his own name.

* * *

"Fuuuuuck," Inuyasha groaned as he lowered himself gingerly onto the damp ground. Leaning back against some kind of pine, he inspected his sore, blistered hands. He poked a large blister on his palm below his thumb with a claw and watched it ooze, his expression flat.

This was getting him absolutely nowhere. It had been a whole week and yet Inuyasha was still as clueless about the barrier as he had been the day he'd marched himself into this mess. Actually, that wasn't entirely true. He knew the barrier was like a great dome sweeping over the top of the mountain—he knew this because he had honestly tried leaping over it from the peak and had been thoroughly smashed back into the ground. He knew the barrier ran deep into the rock and soil, so digging was definitely not his key to freedom. Tetsusaiga had torn into the ground enough for him to see that, and he was pretty sure the dome shape of the barrier on the surface mirrored itself underground. Even if he dug for years, deeper than the mountain was high, and managed not to suffocate, he would only find more barrier. He knew the barrier _hurt_. It was a jolting, unforgiving reprimand filled with the ferocity of a source unknown to Inuyasha. After having traveled the whole godforsaken border around the base of the mountain and taken Tetsusaiga to it, there were no dents, no shudders of faltering power. Only a slight give, like poking the skin of a fruit. An angry, indestructible fruit. Tetsusaiga might as well have been a fancy twig, for its ability to destroy barriers was apparently useless here.

So sure, Inuyasha knew a little something now. He knew his options were growing narrower with each failed idea.

If only he knew who was responsible for all of this and why they would enact such a thing in the first place. Maybe it would provide some clue. It wasn't difficult to at least venture a vague guess. From what the ghoulish youkai had said, it was a deliberate spell. This was vengeance. The youkai had gotten on the bad side of someone with some serious mojo. The youkai claimed to have been defending something that was his, but that was a load of crap. That slimy snake's tongue. To think Inuyasha had maybe sort of sympathized with the youkai at first. He had just been a fool, projecting his own shit onto a stranger. Maybe the youkai really _was_ a danger to the village. Then again, the youkai was stuck behind this barrier and _had_ to be near the village. But if Inuyasha had wandered in here, then probably anything, including some dumbass humans, could wander in here too. And if Inuyasha hadn't been the only one to get trapped in here with _this_ fangy bastard… Well, he couldn't imagine that would have ended well for a human.

It wasn't as if Inuyasha would ever really know the truth, so there was no use in trying to reason it out. He was no good at that sort of thing anyway. It would be nice to just trust that only the scum of the earth would ever be cursed this way, and that the good guys would always win against evil. But the world just didn't work that way.

Whether or not the thing was evil, Inuyasha had already managed to piss him off, the only creature who knew how all of this began and most likely knew some helpful information about the area. It was just as well. Inuyasha was _not_ going to suck up to a youkai who would clearly rather see him fall on his own sword than offer assistance. The youkai would probably eathim once he gave up. Which he was not going to do. Getting beaten up and bloody with trial and error was a much better route.

Honestly, what was withthat guy? What did _he_ care if Inuyasha gave this up or not? Inuyasha could not get a proper read on him, unless he was right and the thing really was waiting like a vulture to eat him. Though somehow he doubted it. Already, Inuyasha seemed to be on the same level as the skittering insects that crunched under the youkai's toes. No matter where he wound up, Inuyasha always managed to find the ones who only saw worth where there was good blood.

Inuyasha had absolutely no idea what sort of youkai resided near the top of this mountain but he was almost definitely a pureblood. A weak pureblood but a pureblood nonetheless. He looked the part of the prisoner, but he did not sound like a creature who had only had trees and squirrels for company his whole life. The youkai spoke as though he belonged in some aristocratic fool's high court, contrary to the ill-treated skins he wore.

It figured Inuyasha would be trapped with someone who was so easy to hate. For possibly a very long time. And he was pretty sure the youkai was the only thing living here with half a brain. But it wasn't all bad. Being pissed off kept him going longer. And the foreboding bastard, if he decided to show up to throw a thorn in his efforts again, would give him something to fight if he ever felt the need to dole out a good beating. There were far worse places to be.

And this optimism thing was exhausting.

But Inuyasha understood why people needed it. Optimism. Otherwise, it was just him and getting out. Until it was just him. And one cursed youkai.

He was not going to go there. It had only been seven days, and that was nothing. He was not cracking. Damned if he was going to let some dumb wall shake him into submission. It was not as though he was sealed to a tree. He was moving, breathing, _alive_.

With a heavy sigh, Inuyasha forced his muscles into working order and lifted himself off the ground, grimacing at the cold, wet fabric clinging to his backside. The sun's descent had begun to bleed orange and pink throughout the sky, more visible now above smashed, leveled earth and gaps of destroyed trees. The little sleep he'd gotten in the past week he'd gotten wherever he dropped after long, painful hours of testing the barrier. With the way things were going now, Inuyasha would not return to full strength, and he needed his full strength to beat this thing. At the very least, he needed his wits about him. It was time to find some place to collect himself.

Inuyasha's mind strayed to thoughts of the deep, dark cave near the mountain peak, and he immediately resented the youkai residing there even more. A cave was a perfect temporary shelter. No real assembly required and a sure way to be out of plain sight. For one satisfying moment, he thought about the pleasure of kicking the youkai to the curb. It was the _least_ the bastard could do for him, Inuyasha thought maliciously. Then again, the youkai wasn't at all afraid of Inuyasha. So if Inuyasha forced him out, Inuyasha would almost certainly end up with poisoned water or an arrow in his back, at the very least.

It was quite possible the cave he had happened upon was not the only suitable shelter in the area. In fact, it had been an extreme stroke of luck that he had happened upon the youkai's dwelling so soon after arriving. There was plenty of unexplored ground in this mountain, which was full of dips and hills. Honestly, it was a decent sized mountain territory, but, as he was now confined to it, it already felt small.

Damp, bloody, and only a little miserable, Inuyasha began to walk in the direction of the falls and stream he had discovered his first day on the mountain. Without the booming efforts of Tetsusaiga, it was eerily quiet again, save for the occasional squawkof a crow or chatter of tree-dwelling rodents. Ever since he had gotten there, he hadn't been able to shake the feeling of being watched, but there was no imposing scent on the wind. There was just nothing but the typical scent of forest.

The sound of the falls was comforting. Just a continuous, gentle rush and gurgle of water. And it was _cold._ Wonderfully cold. Knees bent and on the balls of his feet, Inuyasha perched on the backs of his legs, mindful of the slick rock beneath him, and splashed water in his face, scrubbing as the sweat and grime. The moon reflected in the surface of the water as he cupped it with a hand and drank until the cool liquid sloshed inside his belly. And for a moment… For the briefest of moments, something else reflected in the water. And smiled at him.

" _Inuyasha, come away from the water. Let's get warm by the fire,"_ her voice pleaded with him inside his head. _"You don't need to sit out here all by yourself."_ The gentle invitation he had all but forgotten almost sounded as if it was spoken anew.

With wide eyes, Inuyasha slashed the surface of the water and staggered back.

Why was he remembering Kagome now? Why was her voice so clear in his ears? It had been ten years. Ten years since he last saw her bathed in moonlight. Ten years since a careful hand on his arm guided him away from the solitude he always brought upon himself.

Inuyasha began to run. He ran hard. He ran until fresh pain burned in his legs and his lungs heaved, and he ran further still. Nothing could stand in his way. Rocks crumbled with the force of his momentum and his claws sliced through trees without slowing him down. With the darkness and speed, there was no registering his surroundings. Moving was all that mattered. Nothing else. Not distant memories, not kind faces he would never again—

Hot bile rushed into his mouth and his bones shuddered as Inuyasha's breath was stolen by the harsh force halting him in midair. He would have run forever. For the thousandth time, he was thrown back. His body smashed and shattered whatever hard masses would catch him until he rolled in the dirt, landing flat on his back. He hacked, staining his lips with blood.

"FUCK ME," Inuyasha roared into the unforgiving night. Even as his back screamed, the hanyou clutched at the dirt beneath his hands and pushed himself to his feet. He drew Tetsusaiga, its transformation instant and fierce as it mirrored its wielder's rage. With a wrenching swing of his arm and an anguished cry, Inuyasha turned and sent a blast of youki into the mountain.

After having struck the barrier all day, he expected the blast to ricochet and deal him yet another punishing blow. Instead, his youki simply tunneled, shaking the ground and spewing debris, until it just fizzled out inside the earth.

Breathing harshly, his arms dangling uselessly at his sides, Inuyasha stared with lidded eyes at what Tetsusaiga had created. It was a cave. Rough, unseemly, and potentially unstable. Just like him.

* * *

There were smells worse than roasting squirrel. It wasn't even close to being Inuyasha's favorite meat, but it would at least quiet his stomach for a while. Two of the fuckers, impaled on sticks, were suspended over the fire. Neither of them were the little bastard he would have preferred to be picking out of his teeth soon. The bite on Inuyasha's hand had healed quickly, but the hanyou was still determined to bite it back.

Watching his kill sizzle above the flames, Inuyasha sat cross-legged on the ground inside of his new, expertly crafted cave. After a few days, the dust had settled and he had finished inspecting the inside. Contrary to its method of construction, the cave did not appear to be on the verge of collapse. It was just there, a gaping tunnel of rock and dirt.

Considering its magnitude and creation, Inuyasha had considered naming his new dwelling "Tetsusaiga's Sheath." But when that fleeting thought filled his mind with crude innuendo, he decided he was shit at naming things. It would be stupid to name the eyesore anyway. It was not as if he wanted to make it into a home. He was grateful for it, anyway. The cave had already spared him a night of sleeping beneath a downpour.

It was a trusty place to drop when his head throbbed with every crash and boom his escape efforts emitted. Even as the temperature continued to drop with the peak of autumn, he never stayed inside for long. Damned if he would allow himself to become a plant-smoking cave hermit, like an old youkai too tired to induce daily terror in the hearts of men.

Smoke tickled the hanyou's nose, interrupting his thoughts and causing him to refocus on the meat directly in front of him, which was currently on fire. Cursing, Inuyasha snatched up both sticks of impaled squirrel in one hand and shook them to chase away the greedy flames. With just one shake, both squirrels slid clean off the sticks and flew into the air. The sticks clattered to the floor, and Inuyasha quickly held out his hands, catching each scalding carcass with a wet _splat_. Inuyasha hissed, throwing them the rest of the way to the dirty ground.

"Perfect," Inuyasha growled, as he snatched one of them up, heat be damned, and stuck it in his mouth head first, burning his tongue. He bit down harshly, its skull crunching in his teeth and scrambling squishy brains in his mouth. Normally this method of dining would have earned him various sounds of disgust. His human companions did not share his ability to simply devour an animal, bones and all. Inuyasha had eaten that way from an early age. Whatever would fill his starving belly and not kill him, he'd learned to tolerate.

A shriek of terror shattered the silence somewhere in the darkness, and Inuyasha nearly choked on the bone shards in his throat. He hacked and spit, dropping his gamy meal into the flames as he leapt to his feet. Bare chested and snatching Tetsusaiga from the ground, Inuyasha darted outside, into the cool air that showed his breath. More screams pierced the air, closer now. The sounds of heavy breathing, pounding feet, and snapping twigs found his ears. Then, almost out of nowhere, three men burst into view.

"Why did _we_ have to come up here?" cried the one in the lead before he propelled himself over a sizable log.

"He should've," gasped the heavier man taking up the rear, "scouted for himself!" He let out another high pitched scream when he stumbled on loose rock, but somehow he managed not to fall.

"So shut up and— _run_ ," growled the man in between, breathless. "Maybe you'll live to—piss in his sake!"

Expecting a beast of epic proportions to come barrelling out behind them, Inuyasha pivoted and his hand shot to Tetsusaiga's hilt. But nothing came, and the men continued to run. In the direction of the barrier.

Inuyasha whipped around.

"Wait!" Inuyasha called, his hand outstretched. "Don't—"

He braced himself on their behalf for the moment the barrier would wrench them all backwards and into the dirt, probably breaking their human bodies. But that moment never came. No looming force even slowed them down. They simply scrambled over the trenches hugging the barrier line and kept on running.

The humans were free to cross the barrier. Sonofabitch.

"HEY!" Inuyasha shouted frantically at the top of his lungs, and he jumped down to land just before the barrier. He could feel its pressure even before touching it. "Stop! I said _stop_ , assholes! You have to get me out of here! You have to tell someone! Hey!" His fists shook and his claws dug into sore, blistered flesh as he watched the three men retreat into the darkness. If they had heard him, they gave no indication.

Quietly now, Inuyasha let go of the tension in his arms and fingers, his gaze unfocused. For once, he was too exhausted for anger too consume him and dim his rationality. For only a moment, a mere moment, Inuyasha had allowed his hopes to rise. And just like that, a chance at freedom was ground into the mud by the feet of cowardly men. Men who had something to run from.

Expression steeled, Inuyasha stalked up the hill and around a steep wall of rock, following the path from which the humans has come. It did not take him long to discover the source of terror; the air was thick with the scent of it. He hadn't really known what he was expecting to find, but what he saw did not surprise him. From beneath the ledge where it crouched, Inuyasha met its glowing red eyes.

Blood, black in appearance with only the light of the moon, glistened on pale flesh and sharp, crowded teeth. The excess dripped from his chin.

Inuyasha stared numbly up at the grizzly mess of the mountain's first prisoner, the reason Inuyasha was still shackled there. Perhaps the only face he would ever really see again.

* * *

AN:

Hello my lovelies! :D Thank you so much for being patient with me. Really, I love you. And I reeeeaaaally appreciate your comments because I feel a little rusty. I haven't posted for years until now. I am finally out of school, and I am teaching. :) I hope you will continue to give me feedback. I made this chapter on the long side. They probably won't all be that way, but I will do my best to give you all a meaty update each time. I am excited about this slow burn fic, and I hope you will all be able to put up with my love of angst. I hope you are enjoying so far! Take care!


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